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Still though, what in the hell would those two know about local Nashville issues? Nothing.

Just doesn't sit well with me that a couple of yahoos from Wisconsin (or whatever icebox they come from) is meddling in a local Nashville issue.

But whatever...i don't live there.

They aren't interested personally. From the AFP website:

Quote:

The heart and soul of AFP is our citizen activists. They organize events, write letters to the editor, and petition their lawmakers to uphold freedom and prosperity. Americans for Prosperity has more than 2.3 million activists in all 50 states and 34 state chapters and affiliates. More than 90,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial contribution to AFP or our sister organization, AFP Foundation.

I seriously doubt the Koch brothers personally take an interest in every single issue the 2.3 million activists in AFP concern themselves with.

Using the Gates analogy, it's like saying the reason comma delimited files in Excel always truncate leading 0s and put large number in scientific notation is because Bill Gates personally hates leading zeroes and large numbers not in scientific notation. He personally "went all out" to ensure that .csv files had this limitation, but that .xls files do not, because he personally hates all people who use .csv files and loves the users of .xls

The Koch brothers probably know as much about the Tennessee Amp project as anyone reading this forum.

Why does it matter? The article clearly stated that Tennessee residents are opposed to the project, not Charles and David Koch, personally.

Good grief, with your line of reasoning, one would insist Bill Gates is responsible for someone having kiddie p0rn on their PC.

Get a grip.

What does it matter?

Quote:

The amendment is aimed at Nashville’s proposed $174 million rapid bus system called the Amp, but would apply to any mass transit system proposed in Tennessee’s cities.
The Amp, a proposed 7.1-mile bus rapid transit system that would cut commute times along one of Nashville’s major corridors, has been staunchly opposed by the Tennessee branch of Americans for Prosperity, a lobbying organization founded in part by the Koch brothers.

Hey Einstein...the statehouse passed a measure aimed at ONE project in ONE city in their state. And a couple of non-residents are tossing cash into a battle in an area that they live nowhere close to. And they're obviously taking a serious interest in it.

The main question is if the residents of Nashville are opposed to it, not people living in Gatlinburg or some other dorf in that state that is unaffected by the daily pain of driving through Nashville.

Quote:

“It’s pretty tough to fight that kind of money — AFP gets funds from the Koch brothers, and they’re billionaires,” she said. “We continue to work our local campaign, and we’re probably going to make some tweaks to the design — we’re interested in compromise, because if we don’t, our entire future transit plan is going to be dictated by people who live out of state.”
Nashville has a bus system, McCall said, but it’s not enough to transport people throughout the suburbs and into the city, especially not as the city grows.By 2035, almost 1 million new residents will come to live in the Nashville area, according to the MTA.
“It would be hugely transformational,” McCall said of the Amp. “If we don’t do it now, we’re going to be so far behind, and it’s really going to start to hinder our economic development and growth.”

Now its bad enough that non residents of Nashville are voting against the interest of the people of Nashville WITHIN the state of Tennessee...but it's another matter when a few clowns from Wisconsin are meddling in the issue.

They aren't interested personally. From the AFP website:
I seriously doubt the Koch brothers personally take an interest in every single issue the 2.3 million activists in AFP concern themselves with.

Using the Gates analogy, it's like saying the reason comma delimited files in Excel always truncate leading 0s and put large number in scientific notation is because Bill Gates personally hates leading zeroes and large numbers not in scientific notation. He personally "went all out" to ensure that .csv files had this limitation, but that .xls files do not, because he personally hates all people who use .csv files and loves the users of .xls

The Koch brothers probably know as much about the Tennessee Amp project as anyone reading this forum.

How do you know this?

These guys are in the Petro business. You think they're out of the loop on any mass project that would cut down on energy use?

Why is it wrong for someone to promote their ideas whatever they may be?

Who says its wrong? They can promote whatever they want. And people can call them out and point out what they're doing.

It's not just the Koch brothers that get called out. Recently there was quite a bit of attention here when a couple of loud-mouthed non-residents tried to kill a Trader Joe's (they succeeded because TJ didn't want the fight).

These guys are in the Petro business. You think they're out of the loop on any mass project that would cut down on energy use?

I doubt it.

They run a rather large megacorp, and I somehow doubt they have the time or inclination to involve themselves personally in every local political issue in all 0 states. AFP might be their creation, but it isn't like they personally handle all of AFP's nationwide daily business.

My point in this thread is that the title is misleading in two ways:
1) The Koch brothers did not personally go all out
2) The bill itself did not ban public transit in Nashville.

A bill to have center lane rapid bus transit banned was passed, and the local affiliate of Americans For Prosperity contributed time, money and lobbying efforts to help the bill pass. The bill clearly states that bus transit in the rightmost/curb lane is acceptable, and that other projects that are not center lane embark/debark bus are acceptable if the metropolitan authority approves of them blah blah.

I don't understand the uproar. They can do whatever they want with their money.

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